Essam Abdel-Fatah: VAR will cost Egypt 50 cents per game

CAIRO – 7 July 2017: Essam Abdel-Fatah, Egyptian Football Association (FA) board member and head of referees, spoke to Egyptian Sports Radio about the price that implementing video assistant referees (VAR) will cost the Egyptian government.

Abdel-Fatah talked to Egyptian Sports Radio show about VAR’s cost, his concerns about VAR and what could happen if the VAR trials succeed.

“The ball is in your field,” Abdel-Fatah said to show. “There is no need to worry. The VAR will cost 50 cents to be applied in Egypt. It will be applied in a different way than it was in the Confederations Cup, which cost $10,000 in one match.”

He added, “We can try a trial with a cheap cost and with a better way of thinking, which could lead to good results that we can use.”

Abdel-Fattah continued talking about the VAR saying, “The world is afraid from one matter, which is that the refereeing talent will not be the same. However, huge mistakes will lessen definitely.”

The head of Egyptian referees concluded to the Egyptian sports show, saying, “If the trial succeeds, we might apply the VAR in the Egyptian Cup instead of the fifth referee.”
The VAR was officially used for the first time in the 2017 FIFA Confederations World Cup that was held in Russia from June 17 to July 2.